Online Homeschool Courses for Teens

Are you looking for online homeschool courses for middle school and high school? We’ve got you covered.

When you’re teaching your kids at home, learning doesn’t have to come from a textbook. In fact, more families are using virtual classes than ever before.

While it’s never been easier to add online courses to your lesson plans, choosing from the ton of options available can also be overwhelming.

Hopefully, this list makes it easy for you to choose a virtual program for your teens.

Any links in this post may be affiliate links. See my disclosure statement.

Any links in this post may be affiliate links. See my disclosure statement.

Why Choose Online Courses for Middle School

As homeschoolers move out of the elementary years, many parents start exploring online course options for their teens. There are quite a few reasons for this.

Virtual classes can help students pursue an academic interest or passion, especially if you don’t feel comfortable teaching the material. They’re also an excellent way to introduce kids to different teachers and teaching styles. Digital classes offer a ton of flexibility, which can fit a student’s learning style or schedule.

I knew my kids were going to encounter online learning in college, so to make sure that they were comfortable with the format, I included at least one virtual class into our curriculum each semester, starting in middle school. This made a tremendous difference as they transitioned into high school and college.

Now is the time for you to add online learning into your home school.

What to Look for in a Virtual Homeschool Program

There are several questions you should answer before signing your teen up for an online class.

• Why is your teen taking the course? Is it a core course, an elective credit, or is it just for fun?
• What type of teaching and learning styles are you looking for? For example, does your tween learn best through lecture or interactive discussions?
• Do you want the class to include things like hands-on projects, writing opportunities, or quizzes?
• How much flexibility do you need? Does it offer a variety of scheduling options?
• Would your teen prefer self-paced or a set day and time for class? Is she looking for regular access and feedback from a teacher?
• How much are you willing to pay for a class? Do you need it to be free or low cost? Do they offer special rates for homeschoolers if it’s not specifically a homeschool curriculum?
• Is accreditation important to you? If so, make sure the class meets both state and national standards.

As you answer these questions and evaluate the program, make sure that the material will challenge and engage your teens and cover topics that are important to them. You want to find a balance between having enough structure and allowing for some flexibility so that your teens can get the most out of the experience.

Still not sure? Check out these online learning tips from other homeschoolers. Online learning comes with its own vocabulary, so check out some characteristics of virtual learning before signing up and paying for a class.

Now that you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to choose a course!

Best Online Homeschool Programs

Below you’ll find some of the most popular online programs for homeschoolers. Middle schoolers and high schoolers can enroll in them to study their core curriculum.

Alpha Omega Publications offer online and digital courses for grades 3-12.

Apex Learning provides traditional, accredited virtual classes for grades 6-12. You can choose from full-time virtual school and individual course enrollment.

Bridgeway Academy gives homeschoolers the chance to take live online classes and dual enrollment courses in all the subjects they need. Curriculum can be faith-based or secular.

Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool offers free, faith-based digital curriculum for homeschool families.

Florida Virtual School contains a wide variety of online accredited courses for Florida residents at no cost. FLVS Global is the paid version for non-Florida residents. My daughters successfully used this program to pick up individual courses throughout middle and high school, but you can easily use it for your whole curriculum.

FunCation Academy provides online live course options, self-paced courses, assessments, tutoring, and more.

Memoria Press Online Academy is a Classical Christian virtual school. Students can enroll in individual classes, full-time learning, and even a diploma program. They focus on giving students a classical education.

Northstar Academy is a fully accredited online Christian school offering students the opportunity to sign up for single courses, AP classes, dual credit, or full-time enrollment. They offer a lot of educational support for families.

Schoolhouse Teachers is a site that provides homeschooling families what they need to achieve academic success for a Christian education on their own timeline. Teens can take individual core or elective classes or get a full online curriculum set for the year.

The Potter’s School offers students the choice of whether to take individual courses or enroll full-time. Taught from a biblical worldview, students take live, interactive classes from qualified teachers. They have AP classes and dual enrollment options for teens.

Time4Learning is a self-paced online curriculum that offers core subjects and electives for teens.

As you can see, there are plenty of options available for your older kids to take classes from home. You can use one of these if there’s a subject you’d rather not teach or enroll your student full time in a program.

Virtual Homeschool Classes

What if you’re not looking for a full online curriculum for your teens, you just want them to take a class or two as part of their homeschool year?

They’re a great way to prepare middle schoolers for high school.

Here are several virtual classes that work well for older homeschoolers. They’re split into categories based on the subject.

Online Homeschool Electives

Electives are essential to any well-rounded class schedule, so make sure you let your teen choose some to work on this semester.

7 Sisters has a self-paced psychology class for teens. They teach this from a Christian perspective.

Blossoming Artists offers students live, interactive art classes for drawing and painting, all from the comfort of home.

Creating a Masterpiece is an online platform where students can take fine art lessons in whatever medium they choose.

With italki, students can choose from over 150 languages to learn, all from certified teachers. Lessons are one-on-one and will help teens satisfy their foreign language requirement.

Masterpiece Society provides homeschooling families a fun way to add art to their busy days. It’s full of mixed-media projects. Teens can choose to work on seasonal art, historical time period projects, or mixing with the masters art courses. My daughters always enjoyed these mixed-media art projects.

Sparketh is where you will find over 1000 self-paced art video lessons for kids and teens.

Thinker Academy offers critical thinking and study skills classes for teens.

UDemy is an excellent choice for any tech, coding, or web development classes for your older kids.

YouDance is a fun way to add a dance elective to your teen’s transcript. We tried these online dance classes for ourselves. With them, kids can study a variety of dance styles, from classical ballet to hip hop, all from home.

Learn Geography Online

Geography can be easy to add to your teen’s schedule with these online options.

Georgia Virtual Learning has a canvas public course on world geography that works well for older students who are looking for a self-paced option.

Through Study.com, students can take a complete geography course with this self-paced program.

No matter which program you choose, make it interactive for your tween by working on some hands-on geography projects together.

Online Homeschool History

History is definitely not boring with these virtual classes.

Compass Classroom is a multi-sensory, faith-based American history curriculum takes teens from Meso-America through to Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington. My oldest used it for one of her history credits.

With the online classes at History At Our House, teens will move beyond rote memorization. It encourages them to develop a curiosity about history, leading to a deeper understanding of the material and how it affects their world today.

You can use Online G3 classes with your gifted homeschoolers to give them the opportunity to learn history in a challenging environment. Their live classes are secular and include plenty of opportunities for kids to participate and learn.

Best Online Homeschool Math

You don’t have to stick with a textbook to teach middle school math. In fact, you don’t have to teach your kids math at all thanks to these programs.

With CTCMath, students have access to short, online video lessons, practice questions, and tests for every math topic from kindergarten through calculus. My teens had a lot of success with this online math curriculum.

Mr. D Math offers online courses for Algebra, Geometry, ACT/SAT Test Prep, and more.

Teaching Textbooks is a popular homeschool math curriculum that’s all online. Students can use their computer or tablet to work through the program. Check out our experience with Teaching Textbooks.

To help your kids keep their mental math skills sharp, add fun math games into your lesson plans.

Online Science Classes Homeschool

Science can be a ton of fun with these classes.

We used Apologia Science for years in our homeschool. My kids used their standard curriculum for general science and biology. They also have online classes available for homeschoolers, both self-paced and live options, which are excellent choices for busy families.

With College Prep Science, teens can take live or self-paced online classes covering all the standard topics and a few more unique ones. This faith-based program also offers students the chance to take part in labs to round out their science credit.

For a high-energy, exciting science class, you can’t beat Supercharged Science. This online program places a lot of focus on hands-on activities and experiments to help tweens master a wide variety of science topics. My oldest took part in a camp with Aurora and loved it!

If you’re looking for a secular college-prep science program, check out Taylor Made Science. Teens can take classes from small animal science, all the way through physics. I appreciate this program has students complete real labs and there’s a teacher available to help them every step of the way.

Online Writing Classes for Homeschoolers

If your teen struggles with writing or you’re looking for more help with this subject, check out these online course options.

One of our favorite writing programs is Write at Home. It definitely helped my youngest become a confident writer. Their teachers will walk alongside your teens throughout the entire writing process.

Writing Rockstars offers online self-paced writing courses for older kids. Their Essay Rock Star course will help your teenager master non-fiction writing. It includes 4 essay types – Textual Analysis Essay, Expository Essay, Persuasive Essay, and Personal Statement.

No matter your reason for virtual learning, hopefully you’ve discovered how easy it is to add some online classes to your homeschool.

Homeschool Tools for Online Learning

Aside from the curriculum, you’ll need a few items to help your middle and high schoolers succeed in a virtual classroom.

• A dedicated laptop is a must.
• Rocketbook is a smart notebook that will instantly move handwritten notes to a computer.
• Noise cancelling earbuds will help them stay focused on their class.
• For when your teen needs to print something, use a quick laser dual-sided printer.

HP LaptopRocketbook Smart Reusable NotebookSkullcandy Wireless EarbudsBrother Compact Monochrome Laser Printer

 

Additional Online Options

• Shmoop has study guides, college readiness prep, and test prep available for families of teens.
• Here are additional online classes for middle schoolers for you to check out.
• Online geography games can help make the subject interesting for teens.
• Some resources we used over the years for online learning.
• Reasons why we used online science lessons.

What are your favorite online homeschool courses?